The Crown: Doomsday King

Death/Thrash Metal

4.5/5.0

Century Media seem to be on a roll this year. The label has spent the last several months frying our ears with relentless new offerings from Triptykon, Nevermore, Witchery and now The Crown. In case you've never heard of these guys before, The Crown exploded during the late 90s and have a string of well-received albums to their credit until an extended hiatus froze their activities. Come to think of it, this is just like Nevermore. The fact of the matter is the Swedish quintet is back, fully rejuvenated to serve us a can of whupass with some extreme divinity on the side.

The magic of The Crown is speed married to grit. The speed is in the breathless pace of Janne Saarenpaa on drums plus the Sunesson-Tervonen guitar tandem ripping bunghole on guitars. The grit belongs to Jonas Stalhammar who grunts away the lyrics as if an electric prod were shoved up his ass. Doomsday King kicks off with a massive title track that will be familiar territory for anyone who's into At The Gates, Entombed, Carcass and even 90s Archenemy. The band keeps the momentum going for Angel of Death 1839 that's a worrying case of lousy title/great song. Never fear, since further excellence is just a skip button away and it's called Age of Iron. Expect pure churning riffs and volcanic throat utterances from Mr. Stalhammer. Your likely gut reaction to a barrage this intense will be an ear-to-ear grin. It's simply gratifying to hear a band that's been away for ages melt your speakers with such relish.

The Tempter And The Bible Black, Through Eyes Of Oblivion and From The Ashes I Shall Return rank among the best the album has to offer. Simply put, they've got everything an extreme metal fan loves, from molten guitar bombardment to boiling wrath and a machinegun rhythm section. Yet all is not well in the land of fire and brimstone, because despite the obvious merits of Doomsday King The Crown are guilty of redundancy. Some of the songs here have a difficult time standing apart from the rest since the band stick too closely to a familiar routine. Overlooking its flaws however, Doomsday King is recommended to those who crave neckbreaking fun.

In Short

Overlooking its flaws however, The Crown's Doomsday King is recommended to those who crave neckbreaking fun.

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